Tim D'Ath, a safety and cultural transformation leader, discusses the human-centric approach to safety management. He emphasizes workforce engagement, simplifying safety procedures, and involving end-users in program design. Tim challenges paternalistic views and explores intrinsic motivation over extrinsic rewards in safety. He also talks about balancing safety and production, future challenges in the safety profession, and the significance of building relationships in safety management.
Design safety management systems based on workforce engagement and interpretation of regulations for relatability.
Shift towards human-centered safety strategies involving workforce psychology and tailored safety plans for compliance improvement.
Deep dives
Challenges in Highly Regulated Industries
Working in highly regulated industries like aviation can involve navigating multiple layers of regulations set by authorities such as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and state regulators like WorkSafe Victoria. The stringent standards in aviation, for example, extend to detailed requirements for certified aerodromes, blending operational and safety needs, presenting challenges in aligning diverse safety obligations.
Compliance as a Byproduct of Safety Emphasis
The approach to safety management highlighted by the guest emphasizes understanding the workforce, simplifying safety protocols, involving end users in program design, and crowd-sourcing safety solutions. Rather than focusing solely on compliance, ensuring a sound safety climate and employee buy-in through these fundamental principles naturally enhances compliance levels over time.
Redesigning Safety Management Systems for Engagement
Shifting away from prescriptive safety management systems, the guest advocates for developing safety management standards tailored to specific business groups within organizations. By involving these groups in crafting safety plans that address relevant regulatory aspects, the flexible approach reduces safety clutter, activates the workforce, and streamlines compliance efforts.
Psychology of Safety and Humanistic Approaches
Embracing the psychology of safety and human-centered strategies, the guest emphasizes engaging workforce psychology by understanding motivations, interactions, and attitudes toward safety. Encouraging intelligent failure, fostering intrinsic motivation, and acknowledging human fallibility, the guest advocates for a comprehensive understanding of human behavior to enhance safety practices.
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Tim D'Ath, an experienced Head of Safety & cultural transformation leader of high-performing teams in both corporate and high-risk environments. He specializes in the psychology of safety and explains to HSE professionals how they can bring a more human-centric approach to safety management.
Regulations and humanity often seem at odds, and this friction is probably most apparent in high-compliance industries - where Tim has had great success implementing progressive safety programs and psychosocial wellbeing strategies.
He shares his 4 principles of designing safety management systems and explains that compliance is a byproduct of getting things right. A key theme is workforce engagement, and he provides practical tips on how safety professionals can crowdsource and co-design solutions that interpret regulations into relatable formats for the worker.
Tim reflects on current mainstream approaches to safety and voices his frustration at various elements, including imposing solutions on workers, lag indicator metrics, BBS programs, and Zero Harm initiatives. However, this is an uplifting interview with plenty of advice for disillusioned safety practitioners and many reasons to be optimistic about the future of safety.
Tim could not recommend Clive Lloyd’s best-selling book highly enough: